MEDITATION

TECHNIQUE

The Book of
SECRETS
-Osho
”Buddhists learned from
Vigyan Bhairav. Sufis also have
such exercises; they are also
borrowed from Vigyan
Bhairav. Basically, this is the
source book of all techniques
which are known all over
the world."

- Osho, The Book of Secrets.

O ne of the most ancient texts

and meditation manuals is
Shiva's 5000-year-old Vigyan
Bhairav Tantra, which is concerned
with how to go beyond the mind, to
attain glimpses of the consciousness
CONCENTRATE
Totally on One Object
which exists apart from the mind. It
is here that one should not be
identified with the mind, and this is First : Or imagine the five-coloured circles of
the fallacy of the West; that we are the peacock tail to be your five senses in
our minds. For us not to be
identified with our minds, to know illimitable space. Now, let their beauty melt
that the mind is only a moving within. Similarly, at any point in space or on
process, like walking, but not the
a wall -- until the point dissolves. Then your
same as our consciousness, this is
the message of the Vigyan Bhairav wish for another comes true.
Tantra, the Ancient Indian text. And
all the 112 techniques of meditation
are not concerned with how the
mind operates, but rather are
concerned only about how to find
the door outside the mind to find
the open sky of consciousness.
A ll these sutras are concerned with how to achieve the
inner centre. The basic mechanism used, the basic
technique used is, if you can create a centre outside --
anywhere: in the mind, in the heart, or even outside on a wall --
and if you concentrate totally on it and you bracket out the
whole world, you forget the whole world and only one point

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remains in your consciousness,
suddenly you will be thrown to
your inner centre.
How does it work? First
understand this... Your mind is just
a vagabond, a wandering. It is
never at one point. It is always
going, moving, reaching, but never
at any point. It goes from one
thought to another, from A to B. But
it is never at the A; it is never at the
B. It is always on the move.
Remember this: the mind is always
on the move, hoping to reach
somewhere but never reaching. It
cannot reach! The very structure of
the mind is movement. It can only
move; that is the inherent nature of
the mind. The very process is
movement -- from A to B, from B to
C... it goes on and on.
If you stop at A or B or any
point, the mind will fight with you.
The mind will say, "Move on,"
because if you stop the mind dies
immediately. It can be alive only in
movement. The mind means a
process. If you stop and do not
move, the mind suddenly becomes
dead, it is no more there; only
consciousness remains.
Consciousness is your nature;
the mind is your activity -- just like
walking. It is difficult because we
think the mind is something
substantial. We think the mind is a
substance -- it is not, the mind is
just an activity. So it is really better
to call it "minding" than mind. It is
a process just like walking. Walking
is a process, if you stop, there is no
walking. You have legs, but no
walking. Legs can walk, but if you
stop then the legs will be there but
there will be no walking.
Consciousness is like legs --
your nature. The mind is like
walking -- just a process. When
consciousness moves from one
place to another, this process is the
mind. When consciousness moves
from A to B, from B to C, this
movement is mind. If you stop the
movement, there is no mind. You
are conscious, but there is no mind.
You have legs, but no walking.
Walking is a function, an activity;
If you stop at any
point, the mind
will struggle. The
mind will say, "Go
on!" The mind will
try in every way to
push you forward
or backward
or anywhere
the mind is also a function, an
activity.
If you stop at any point, the
mind will struggle. The mind will
say, "Go on!" The mind will try in
every way to push you forward or
backward or anywhere -- but, "Go
on!" Anywhere will do, but do not
stay at one point.
If you insist and if you do not
obey the mind... it is difficult
because you have always obeyed.
You have never ordered the mind;
you have never been masters. You
cannot be because, really, you have
never disidentified yourself from
the mind. You think you are the
mind. This fallacy that you are the
mind gives the mind total freedom,
because then there is no one to
master it, to control it. There is no
one! The mind itself becomes the
master. It may become the master,
but that mastery is just seemingly
so. Try once and you can break that
mastery -- it is false.
The mind is just a slave
pretending to be the master, but it
has pretended so long, for lives and
lives, that even the master believes
that the slave is the master. That is
just a belief. Try the contrary and
you will know that the belief was
totally unfounded.
This first sutra says, Imagine the
five-coloured circle of the peacock tail to
be your five senses in illimitable space.
Now let their beauty melt within.
Think that your five senses are five
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colours, and those five colours are
filling the whole space. Just imagine
your five senses are five colours --
beautiful colours, alive, extended
into infinite space. Then move
within with those colours. Move
within and feel a centre where all
these five colours are meeting
within you. This is just imagination,
but it helps. Just imagine these five
colours penetrating within you and
meeting at a point.
Of course, these five colours will
meet at a point: the whole world
will dissolve. In your imagination
there are only five colours -- just
like around the tail of a peacock --
spread all over space, going deep
within you, meeting at a point. Any
point will do, but the hara is the
best. Think that they are meeting at
your navel -- that the whole world
has become colours, and those
colours are meeting at your navel.
See that point, concentrate on that
point, and concentrate until the
point dissolves. If you concentrate
on the point it dissolves, because it
is just imagination. Remember,
whatever we have done is
imagination. If you concentrate on
it, it will dissolve. And when the
point dissolves, you are thrown to
your centre.
The world has dissolved. There
is no world for you. In this
meditation there is only colour. You
have forgotten the whole world;
you have forgotten all the objects.
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You have chosen only five colours.
Choose any five colours. This is
particularly for those who have a
very keen eye, a very deep color
sensitivity. This meditation will not
Your mind is just a
vagabond, a
wandering. It is
never at one point.
It is always going,
moving, reaching,
but never at any
point. It goes from
one thought to
another, from A to
B. But it is never at
the A; it is never at
the B. It is always
on the move
be helpful to everyone. Unless you
have a painter's eye, a colour
consciousness, unless you can
imagine colour, it is difficult.
Have you ever observed that
your dreams are colourless? Only
one person in a hundred is capable
of seeing coloured dreams. You see
just black and white. Why? The
whole world is coloured and your
dreams are colourless. If one of you
remembers that his dreams are
coloured, this meditation is for him.
If someone remembers even
sometimes that he sees colours in
his dreams, then this meditation
will be for him.
If you say to a person who is
insensitive to colour, "Imagine the
whole space filled with colours," he
will not be able to imagine. Even if
he tries to imagine, if he thinks,
"Red," he will see the word `red', he
will not see the colour. He will say,
"Green," and the word `green' will
be there, but there will be no
greenness.
So if you have a colour
sensitivity, then try this method.
There are five colours. The whole
world is just colours and those five
colours are meeting in you. Deep
down somewhere in you, those five
colours are meeting. Concentrate on
that point, and go on concentrating
on it. Do not move from it; remain
at it. Do not allow the mind. Do not
try to think about green, red and
yellow and about colours -- do not
think. Just see them meeting in you.
Do not think about them! If you
think, the mind has moved. Just be
filled with colours meeting in you,
and then at the meeting point,
concentrate. Do not think!
Concentration is not thinking; it is
not contemplation.
If you are really filled with
colours and you have become just a
rainbow, a peacock, and the whole
space is filled with colours, it will
give you a deep feeling of beauty.
But do not think about it; do not say
it is beautiful. Do not move in
thinking. Concentrate on the point
where all these colours are meeting
and keep concentrating on it. It will
disappear, it will dissolve, because
it is just imagination. And if you
force concentration, imagination
cannot remain there, it will
dissolve.
The world has dissolved
already; there were only colours.
Those colours were your
imagination. Those imaginative
colours were meeting at a point.
That point, of course, was
imaginary -- and now, with deep
concentration, that point will
dissolve. Where are you now?
Where will you be? You will be
thrown to your centre.
Objects have dissolved through
imagination. Now imagination will
dissolve through concentration. You
alone are left as a subjectivity. The
objective world has dissolved; the
mental world has
dissolved. You are
there only as pure
consciousness.
That is why this
sutra says: at any point
in space or on a wall...
This will help. If you
cannot imagine
colours, then any point
on the wall will help.
Take anything just as
an object of
concentration. If it is
inner it is better, but
again, there are two types of
Centring will make
personalities. For those who are you aware of your
introvert, it will be easy to conceive existential roots.
of all the colours meeting within. You will know
But there are extroverts who cannot
from where you are
conceive of anything within. They
can imagine only the outside. Their
joined to the
minds move only on the outside; existence. In you,
they cannot move in. For them there is a point
there is nothing like innerness. which is related to
The English philosopher David
the total existence,
Hume has said, "Whenever I go in, I
never meet any self. All that I meet
which is one with
are only reflections of the outside it. Once you know
world -- a thought, some emotion, this centre, you
some feeling. I never meet the know you are at
innerness, I only meet the outside
home. This world
world reflected in." This is the
extrovert mind par excellence, and
is not alien
David Hume is one of the most
extrovert minds. go in?" then try any point on the
So if you cannot feel anything wall instead. There are people who
within, and if the mind asks, "What come to me and ask how to go in. It
does this innerness mean? How to is a problem, because if you know
FEBRUARY 2009 57
only outgoing-ness, if you know
only outward movements, it is
difficult to imagine how to go in. If
you are an extrovert then do not try
this point inside, try it outside. The
same will be the result. Make a dot
on the wall; concentrate on it. Then
you will have to concentrate on it
with open eyes. If you are creating a
centre inside, a point within, then
you will have to concentrate with
closed eyes.
Make a point on a wall and
concentrate on it. The real thing
happens because of concentration,
not because of the point. Whether it
is out or in is irrelevant. It depends
on you. If you are looking at the
outside wall, concentrating on it,
then keep concentrating till the
point dissolves. That has to be
noted: Until the point dissolves! Do
not blink your eyes, because
blinking gives a space for the mind
to move again. Do not blink,
because then the mind starts
thinking. It becomes a gap; in the
blinking, the concentration is lost.
So no blinking.
You may have heard about
Bodhidharma, one of the greatest
masters of meditation in the whole
history of humankind. A very
beautiful story is reported about
him. He was concentrating on
something -- something outward.
His eyes would blink and the
concentration would be lost, so he
tore off his eyelids. This is a
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beautiful story: he tore off his
eyelids, threw them away, and
concentrated. After a few weeks, he
saw some plants growing on the
spot where he had thrown his
eyelids. This anecdote happened on
a mountain in China, and the
mountain's name is Tah, or Ta.
If you are really
filled with colours
and you have
become just a
rainbow, a
peacock, and the
whole space is
filled with colours,
it will give you a
deep feeling of
beauty. But do not
think about it; do
not say it is
beautiful. Do
not move in
thinking.
Hence, the name `tea'. Those plants
which were growing became tea,
and that is why tea helps you to
be awake.
When your eyes are blinking
and you are falling sleep, take a cup
of tea. Those are Bodhidharma's
eyelids. That is why Zen monks
consider tea to be sacred. Tea is not
any ordinary thing, it is sacred --
Bodhidharma's eyelids. In Japan
they have tea ceremonies, and
every house has a tea room, and the
tea is served with the religious
ceremony; it is sacred. Tea has to be
taken in a very meditative mood.
Japan has created beautiful
ceremonies around tea drinking.
They will enter the tea room as if
they are entering a temple. Then the
tea will be made, and everyone will
sit silently listening to the samovar
bubbling. There is the steam, the
noise, and everyone just listening. It
is no ordinary thing...
Bodhidharma's eyelids. And
because Bodhidharma was trying to
keep awake with open eyes, tea
helps. Because the story happened
on the mountain of Tah, it is called
tea. Whether true or untrue, this
anecdote is beautiful.
If you are concentrating
outwardly, then non-blinking eyes
will be needed, as if you no longer
have eyelids. That is the meaning of
throwing away the eyelids. You
have only eyes, without eyelids to
close them. Concentrating till the
point dissolves. If you persist, if you
insist and do not allow the mind to
move, the point dissolves. And
when the point dissolves, if you
were concentrated on the point and
there was only this point for you in
the world, if the whole world had
dissolved already, if only this point
remained and now the point also
dissolves, then the consciousness
cannot move anywhere. There is no
object to move to -- all the
dimensions are closed. The mind is
thrown to itself, the consciousness
is thrown to itself, and you enter
the centre.
So whether in or out, within or
without, concentrate till the point
dissolves. This point will dissolve
for two reasons. If it is within, it is
imaginary -- it will dissolve. If it is
outside, it is not imaginary, it is
real. You have made a dot on the
wall and have concentrated on it.
Then why will this dot dissolve?
One can understand it dissolving
inside -- it was not there at all; you
just imagined it -- but on the wall it
is there, so why will it dissolve?
It dissolves for a certain reason.
If you concentrate on a point, the
point is not really going to dissolve,
the mind dissolves. If you are
concentrating on an outer point, the
mind cannot move. Without
movement it cannot live, it dies, it
stops. And when the mind stops
you cannot be related with
anything outward. Suddenly all
bridges are broken, because the
mind is the bridge. When you
concentrate on a point on the wall,
constantly your mind is jumping
from you to the point, from the
point to you, from you to the point.
There is a constant jumping; there is
a process.
When the mind dissolves you
cannot see the point, because really,
you never see the point through the
eyes: you see the point through
the mind and through the eyes. If
the mind is not there, the eyes
cannot function. You may keep
staring at the wall, but the point
will not be seen.
The mind is not there; the bridge
is broken. The point is real -- it is
there. When the mind comes back,
you will see it again; it is there.
But now you cannot see it. And
when you cannot see, you cannot
move out. Suddenly, you are at
your centre.
This centring will make you
aware of your existential roots. You
will know from where you are
joined to the existence. In you, there
is a point which is related to the
total existence, which is one with it.
Once you know this centre, you
know you are at home. This world
is not alien. You are not an outsider.
You are an insider, you belong to
the world. There is no need of any
struggle, there is no fight. There is
no inimical relationship between
you and the existence. The existence
becomes your mother.
It is the existence that has come
into you and that has become
aware. It is the existence that has
flowered in you. This feeling, this
realisation, this happening... and
there can be no anguish again.
Then bliss is not a phenomenon;
it is not something that happens
and then goes. Then blissfulness is
your very nature. When one is
rooted in one's centre, blissfulness
is natural. One happens to be
blissful, and by and by one even
becomes unaware that one is
blissful, because awareness
needs contrast. If you are miserable,
then you can feel it when you
are blissful.
When misery is no more, by and
by you forget misery completely.
And you forget your bliss also. And
only when you can forget your bliss
are you really blissful. Then it is
natural. As stars are shining, as
rivers are flowing, so are you
blissful. Your very being is blissful.
It is not something that has
happened to you: now it is you.
With the second sutra, the
mechanism is the same, the
scientific basis is the same, the
working structure is the same.
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